Now it’s no secret that I like cool devices, so when Kevin got here throughout our Should Have RV Upgrades Article and invited us to come back out to the MicroAir headquarters and get a behind the scenes have a look at how they function we have been there the subsequent day. Not many issues are made right here anymore, however pulling up out entrance you possibly can see that they’re happy with the truth that all of their merchandise are.
Not simply assembled right here from elements manufactured some other place, Made right here, Assembled by hand, and each single product high quality examined at a number of factors all through their manufacturing course of.
The very first thing I discover once we stroll within the door is chatter, like the type that stops when the boss walks within the room most locations. I didn’t understand this was the very first thing I observed till a lot later in our go to. Kevin met us within the foyer and confirmed us to the convention desk so we might sit and chat for a bit earlier than taking a stroll by way of the manufacturing line.
As we chat with Kevin about Micro-Airs product line and historical past folks stroll by, all with a pleasant wave and a hey, on their approach to the place ever it was they have been going. We continued speaking with Kevin concerning the increasing line of merchandise they make, and the way they’re designed and constructed proper right here.
The primary cease on our tour was the design room. The very first thing that got here to thoughts was The Matrix. There have been work stations with a number of screens with designs of circuit boards to come back subsequent to prototypes subsequent to items that had handed and failed high quality management checks in order that they might be dissected and retooled to make enhancements for future generations of merchandise.
Additional down the hallway is the door to the manufacturing facility flooring. On the opposite aspect of that door is an meeting line so environment friendly that it will make Henry Ford take discover. Micro-Air has been getting increasingly orders, and has been beginning to outgrow the quantity of house they’ve, so in flip has arrange their manufacturing facility flooring to make use of each inch of accessible house to extend manufacturing with out sacrificing high quality.
The very first station we see is the retooling station. The retooling station is mainly the “oops pile”. Kevin made it a degree to convey out consideration to it, which at first I assumed was odd, as a result of we might have simply walked proper previous it to the very subsequent station the place meeting was being performed.
I assumed to myself ‘why would you level out your oops pile when you have to be displaying us how superior your manufacturing facility is?’
Nicely, it seems Kevin is smarter than I’m, and by displaying us the oops pile he was displaying us how superior they’re. On the conclusion of each station alongside the meeting line is a top quality management examine. Now after I say each station, I imply each station. QC is finished after every set of elements goes into every product, not simply on the finish of the road.
If at any level throughout the complete course of a chunk fails its high quality examine, it’s labeled with the place it was within the course of and introduced right here. If its a chunk that wants a transforming on the schematic it may possibly go proper by way of the door to the left and into the design room for its replace. If its a chunk that simply wants an additional little bit of solder, it may possibly get that and be returned again into the work circulate on the applicable station.
After the retooling station is a protracted part of house with 4 rows of labor stations. One in opposition to every wall and two nose to nose down the middle of the room, in order that items on line might be accomplished, then handed to the subsequent station on their manner all the way down to packaging.
After we have been chatting with Kevin within the convention room about their merchandise being constructed by hand, I had assumed he meant “constructed by hand”. You understand, the identical manner every thing is “constructed by hand”, a connection right here or there was performed by a human, however the many of the elements have been put collectively by some tremendous environment friendly robotic.
Nope. Kevin meant Constructed By Hand. With Delight and a focus to element just like the phrase American Made was meant to embody.
It was significantly spectacular to see all of the issues that “used to” be made by American Craftsmanship really being performed by actual people who take pleasure in what they’re doing. Hand crimped wire ends, Hand soldered wires, Hand examined controls, Hand performed weatherproofing, Hand assembled circuit boards.
One factor you’ll discover within the footage of the tour, is Folks. Folks doing every thing. In actual fact, there is just one machine doing something in the complete place. Its a comparatively current addition to the road too. Proper subsequent to it’s its “handcrafted” predecessor that was solely changed due to the necessity to make extra advanced circuit boards with a number of layers of pathways.
Now I do know it’s possible you’ll be considering, “a lot for handcrafted, this factor is doing many of the work”. Nope, by no means. Consider it like making dinner. You do all of the prep, all of the cooking, put all of it collectively on the plate and serve it. This machine simply makes the plate,
These two beautiful ladies are those who put the small elements on the circuit boards by hand in order that they are often handed on to the correct meeting traces whether or not it’s for RV or Marine use, Air conditioners or Thermostats, or any one of many numerous different merchandise that Micro-Air makes.
When you recall the very first thing I observed once we walked within the constructing was chatting. That was a typical incidence all through our tour. Now, under no circumstances am I suggesting that everybody right here needs to be diligently ignoring their coworkers and simply mindlessly cranking out merchandise for his or her customers.
Whereas taking this image I had really talked about to Kevin that everybody right here appears to be in a fantastic temper and that this have to be a fantastic place to work or everybody right here is basically good actors. All of us spent a while chatting and joking round about who was going to win the Academy Award for Happiest Worker, and in doing so got here to be taught that smiles like that may’t be faked.
Most of the folks right here have been right here for his or her whole profession. That is a kind of locations the place you get employed as your first job and find yourself retiring from. The ambiance all through the manufacturing facility is fairly laid again. Everybody enjoys what they’re doing and really likes coming to work and it exhibits within the merchandise they put out.
I personally have Micro-Air products on my RV, and that was from earlier than the manufacturing facility tour, which made #1 on my will need to have RV Upgrades checklist.